[Drama-induced Shopping] You’re a beautiful plushie

I love plushies; I loved them when I was a kid, and I love them even more as an adult. Currently, my couches are covered in plushies. My roommate complains about the lack of available seating, but each plushie makes me happy. And so when I began watching dramas several years ago, I was immediately drawn to the adorable plushies the main characters would often have. Like the giant cat plushie Tae Gong-shil had in Master’s Sun. Or the enormous sloth Kang Joo-eun used as pillow/bed in Oh My Venus.

Oh My Venus

But before those dramas, the first drama plushie I really wanted to buy was the pig-rabbit from You’re Beautiful. Not only was this one of the cutest plushies I had ever seen, it was also a focal part of the storyline.

In case you haven’t watched the drama (go watch it, crazy person!), the heroine, Go Mi-nam, is always making a pig nose at the hero, Hwang Tae-kyung. The reason she does so is because her manager told Mi-nam that there was a pressure point at the tip of her nose that would help alleviate her feelings (lol).

You’re Beautiful

As Tae-kyung had no idea what Mi-nam’s actions meant, he would become very annoyed with her whenever she did it. When he does find out why, the scene is so adorable and heart-stopping! Tae-kyung can’t find just the right plush in A.N.JELL’s mountain of plushies for him to give Mi-nam, so he does surgery to create the perfect gift, which is one of the funniest moments of the drama, right behind the pig chasing scene (more pigs!) and the fan fiction scene.

Throughout the drama, this pig-rabbit is used as a sort of surrogate of the other character. Mi-nam would often talk to her pig-rabbit plushie and when Tae-kyung was upset with Mi-nam, he often took it out on the poor plushie. So for me, I wanted to buy the pig-rabbit not just because it was freaking cute, but also because I wanted it as a sort of memory of the drama and my experience watching it. I wanted to be able to hold the pig-rabbit in my arms as I rewatched You’re Beautiful or to be able to talk to it about my feelings like Mi-nam (I swear I am a normal person, peeps). But alas, I was a poor college student and so I could not afford it.

You’re Beautiful

So my first drama-induced purchase did not come until very recently. I was watching a drama called Hwayugi. I was watching it live, which I never do because I pretty much exclusively watch dramas with happy endings. But I could resist Lee Seung-gi for only so long. As the drama went on, I began to see the impending doom of a non-happily-ever-after ending. Every week was a nail-biter as I stressed about the ending of a show that I was really loving. I would glance through javabeans and girlfriday’s recaps while I was waiting for subs because I had to know what was happening.

And then the end came. I had just finished watching Episode 15 when Episode 19 had aired the day before in South Korea. I was absolutely desperate to know what had happened! Would there be glimpses of a possible happy ending or just plain old despair? But the recap hadn’t yet posted on Dramabeans (because you know, this stuff takes time). So I googled, just looking for anything, even just a few comments.

I found a blog (I can’t remember the name of it) and that blog had a link to the plush monkey from Hwayugi. I, of course, clicked on the link because I love plushies and all things cute. I stared at the little cranky monkey, and I saw my hopes for the drama, the sadness of the drama, my experience watching it, and its cute little face. And so, I clicked buy.

Hwayugi

A couple of weeks later, my own Yook-gong arrived to join the army of plushies on my couch. While I am not 100 percent happy with the ending of Hwayugi, I do not regret buying Yook-gong. It reminds me of my experience watching Hwayugi as I fell in love with the characters, became invested in their relationships, and rooted for them as they fought against their future.

I am sure that down the line, I will make more drama-induced purchases, especially plushies. But I don’t feel that these are frivolous (well, not entirely) as they are representations of my memories and experiences. Now excuse me while I go purchase a pig-rabbit. I am a poor college girl no more!

April 11, 2018 at 10:31 PM

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I confess that I have not seen much of Kim Sam-soon. *hangs head in beanie shame* I started it with my sister but she watched most of it without me and so I ended up dropping it for another drama at the time. But when I was searching for pics of plushies, I saw one of Kim Sam-soon, and I thought to myself that I should really check the drama out again :)

April 12, 2018 at 2:07 PM

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The Sam Sookie piggie was my first kdrama purchase! I have her in key chain form so she's only about 2" tall, is cute as can can be and still gives me the warm feelings I had when first watching MNIKSS (my absolute #1 most favorite kdrama ever). Sadly, she no longer chirps, "I love you! I love you!" when her tummy is squeezed. 😘

April 12, 2018 at 9:56 AM

April 11, 2018 at 10:36 PM

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I have one plushie, but not really inspired from my drama watching. It is a huge dolphin plushie, which reminds me of Junsu of JYJ. Old idol fans in here would know that Junsu is often called dolphin because of his high pitched voice, and he even has multiple of the plushies at home. So when I found one, I immediately thought of him and bought one. Ah, now all I need is for him to be discharged from military service so that I can be a full-blown fangirl all over again..

April 11, 2018 at 11:20 PM

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Before You're Beautiful aired on our local channel, I already finished watching it. Imagine my surprise when I walked into a thrift store and saw a brand-new, sealed Pig-rabbit plushie. It even had the drama's tag on it. I squealed so loud that several people looked at me. I bought it for $4, that was 8 years ago, now, pig-rabbit's whereabouts are unknown. Probably under the pile of all the plushies my family owns. :(

April 13, 2018 at 2:11 AM

April 12, 2018 at 12:25 AM

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YAB is so so wonderful drama and while reading your post i just want to rewatch it. it gave me all sort of feels that i was head over heels for it for a very long tome after finishing it.
I lovee pig rabit but alas there is no way i could buy it then in india... so i just had to let go of my urge...

April 12, 2018 at 2:11 AM

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Ahh you gave me such lovely place to imagine... Me From Kdrama Land could do anything to be with my Fav Cheabol Oppa, to fight evil MIL or Second Female Lead cause Anything For Oppa......❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
and pig rabit would be complimentary.. hehehe

April 12, 2018 at 2:15 AM

April 12, 2018 at 2:17 AM

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What a lovely post! @alynsilver ^^; I'm totally on board with this plushie obsession you have - it is the single most cute thing I've heard about in a while. Glad you are now able to buy all the K-drama plushies you want. ^^

April 12, 2018 at 3:10 AM

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This is so adorable @alynsilver ! I've wanted to purchase plushies too because they many dramas feature such cute ones but alas I don't have enough space and I wouldn't know what to do with them after a couple of years. 😂

April 12, 2018 at 5:19 AM

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If anyone finds 🐌 somewhere, please tell me. I will pay an arm and a leg for it. I’d probably be even worse at popping balloons than Se-hee, so winning it fair-and-square is out of the question unless I enlist Ji-ho’s help.

April 12, 2018 at 6:50 AM

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I love LOVE plushies! The bigger, fluffier & softer, the better!
I love them so much that when I go to malls & such, I make sure to go to the kid's stores & spend time in the plushie section XD Its like therapy, haha, I hug the life sized plushies while kids stare at me. XD And then I walk away like it's no big deal.
I'm happy that you can shop as much plushies as you want now :-)

April 12, 2018 at 7:45 AM

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Well while reading these posts about Drama Induced Shopping, I just realized that I actually chose my car because of Coffee Prince!!! XD It just became my dream eversince I saw Eun Chan having the time of her life riding in Han Kyul's Mini Cooper. At this point, I guess its normal that I have lots and lots of kdrama merch and plushies too (YB's Pig Rabbit, Goblin, Miho's Chicken Leg!!) and I make sure I have supplies of my Korean snacks and noodles ready whenever I crave them while watching Dramas. Oh the things you make me do Dramaland!

April 12, 2018 at 9:00 AM

April 12, 2018 at 9:15 AM

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I bought a pig rabbit plushie from a seller at Myeongdong in Seoul when I was in Korea for vacation...it's kinda offbrand but I love it anyway! Like the tie and nose are not like the drama one but it only cost me $10. I have it displayed proudly on top of my bookshelf

I kinda want the monkey plushie and I haven't even seen Hwayugi yet LOL those Hong sisters really know how to insert the plushie PPL ;)

April 12, 2018 at 10:34 AM

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So, three plushies from Goblin are in my entertainment center, and I see them daily. So what if they clash with the minimalist Asian style of the house, I can always say they belong to my kids! Lol! This was a very cutely appropriate write up?

April 12, 2018 at 10:35 AM

April 12, 2018 at 10:52 AM

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That was me! A friend of mine knew I wanted the Pig Rabbit so she got it for me as a birthday present (mind you, I was turning 21). I think it was off of yesasia and cost her about $60. She's also a kdrama fan so she understood, lol. It was the only time I got something related to a drama (besides similar clothes and phones. Those damn phones!!)

April 12, 2018 at 1:42 PM

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The pig-rabbit is the mascot of DramaFever. And when they (unjustly) fired me (after being bought out by Warner Bros.) I can't even watch "You're Beautiful" without being annoyed. But I think I'll buy me a Mr. Buckwheat. (Or maybe a big stuffed chicken drumstick, like from My Girlfriend is a Gummiho. Or Doolie and his girlfriend (Doolette?) from Master's son? ANYTHING but that pig-rabbit.

April 12, 2018 at 2:37 PM

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Congratulations, Alyn!
And thanks for the chance to talk about an unusual kdrama related plushie I have, a gift from my best kdrama watching pal. It's a 10" Hello Kitty that is dressed as the Prince-as-Groom in Goong. That's right. Hello Kitty in a purple satin sort of Chosun (male) wedding getup, complete with gat perched on one ear. Our other best kdrama pal got the bride companion in red hanbok. The best part is that they appear to have been Korean McDonalds premiums of some kind because they both have the golden arch logo smack in the center of their sashes. Our friend paid a mint for them on eBay.

April 12, 2018 at 8:52 PM

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The pigrabbit! omg, the memories. It wasn't my first drama, but it did start off my binge-watching/addiction/wanting to buy things from dramas. I'm comforted to know I'm not alone. I wouldn't mind a keychain version, or a snail from BTIMFL. What a lovely article, A nice slice of nostalgia at the end of a week. :)

April 13, 2018 at 7:37 PM

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Such a lovely article! I only recently got hooked at korean dramas that's why might as I want I can't find any pig-rabbit anymore :( YAB is my most favorite kdrama that's why I really, really want to find the official plushie.

April 14, 2018 at 3:26 AM

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This was... literally what happened with me. Minami Shineyo was my first obsession (not my first kdrama though) and I remember wanting the pig rabbit so badly! But my first kdrama plushie is... the Hwayugi monkey which has recently arrived to me. I guess we're twinning!

April 14, 2018 at 8:47 PM

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same! I totally collect the Goblin and Hwayugi plushies. Was so stoked when I found out that Chil Gook comes with a lot of friends,totally planning to buy them next. Of course my friends are getting tired of me heckling them into buying me the plushies every time they flew to SK.